In the Ganlu Palace, after sending off the Wei family mother and daughter, Chu Ning drank the freshly boiled tonic, sweated a little, and wiped his body with a wet hand towel.
The maid who had previously sent the person out of the palace returned to the hall and stood outside the screen: "Your Highness, Mrs. Lu Guo and Mrs. Wei met the Crown Princess outside Jiafu Gate. They said that the Crown Princess was going out today, and she seemed to be dressed abnormally. No, the special servants will come back and let me know."
Chu Ning was stunned for a while, not knowing what the "abnormal" and "inappropriate" in her mouth were, but her heart suddenly became nervous.
She knew very well in her heart that there will be a change in the East Palace in the past few days, and Zhao Yu'e's trip at this time is probably related to this. If Madam Xu and Guo'er ran into something at this time, they would probably be affected.
She quickly weighed it for a moment, and immediately asked someone to send a message to the imperial front. At the same time, she personally selected more than a dozen strong servants and sent the palace to check the situation of Mrs. Xu's mother and daughter.
…
In the narrow alley near Chunmingmen, Zhao Yu'e in the cloth skirt of Jingchai looked at the mother and daughter who were nervous and shrinking in front of her.
"His Royal Highness, what are you doing?" Madam Xu pulled Guo'er behind her, looked around at the seven or eight people surrounding her, and asked vigilantly, "I am also Madam Lu Guo, my family. The servant in the middle, I saw it just now, and will definitely bring someone here soon..."
"Okay, you don't have to worry." Zhao Yu'e frowned and interrupted her impatiently, "I just want to ask something, you tell the truth, I won't do it."
Mrs. Xu didn't speak and stared at her.
"Saint... Do you know everything?" Zhao Yu'e narrowed her eyes and stepped closer, her eyes full of oppression, as if she wanted them to be unable to resist and reveal their flaws.
Mrs. Xu, who was born as an ordinary peasant woman, naturally couldn't bear her gaze, and subconsciously shook her head: "No no, I don't know what you are talking about..."
She really didn't know what Zhao Yu'e was referring to, but what came to her mind was what Guo'er heard about the collusion between the Zhao family and the East Palace. This appearance fell in Zhao Yu'e's eyes, and the meaning was very obvious.
"When did it happen?" Zhao Yu'e grabbed Madam Xu's wrist with such strength that she stumbled, "Isn't it the day of Shangyuan?"
Madam Xu was already flustered, she really didn't know how to react, she just kept shaking her head, unable to speak, but she didn't forget to hold the fruit firmly in her hand.
Guo'er blushed, pinched the corner of her clothes, and her nose couldn't keep moving. Seeing this, she suddenly summoned up her courage: "It's me, I heard it... Your Highness is going to do something bad, and His Majesty already knew it!"
"Guo'er!" Madam Xu was startled, and hurriedly covered her daughter's mouth with her hand to prevent her from going on.
Zhao Yu'e turned pale in shock and stared at her, her face turning blue and white.
Sure enough, I knew it at that time. It's been a few months since I counted the time. The emperor must have been prepared, and what she and Xiao Yu are doing, isn't it self-inflicted
Just as he was in a trance, the sound of fast and messy footsteps suddenly came from the narrow alley around him, and then, more than a dozen strong servants surrounded them.
"Your Highness, please release Madam Lu Guo and Madam Wei quickly!" Upon seeing this, the leader of the group shouted sharply, showing no mercy at all.
Seeing someone coming, Guo'er stood up straight as if she had found support, holding her mother with one hand and pointing at Zhao Yu'e with the other, looking up and said, "Your Highness should confess the crime to His Majesty!"
Zhao Yu'e glared at her without saying a word, but the hand that held Mrs. Xu suddenly loosened, and turned to ride on the hull of the carriage to stabilize her body.
The servants were busy protecting the mother and daughter and backed away, and then looked at Zhao Yu'e, who looked strange.
During the confrontation, Zhao Yu'e seemed to have suddenly made up her mind, sneered, straightened her back, lifted her skirt and boarded the carriage, and said indifferently, "Okay, let's go back, go to Tai Chi Palace."
"Miss?" Chun Yan was startled, and hurriedly tugged at her sleeve.
Zhao Yu'e ignored her, but her eyes suddenly turned red.
"It's too late, I can only bet this one last time..."
The matter came to light, my brother has not heard any news for a month, I am afraid it is not to prevent the disclosure of secrets, but something has happened a long time ago.
Xiao Yu couldn't be trusted no matter what. At this time, she wanted to protect herself, so she could only choose to defect...
…
In the Taiji Palace, Xiao Kezhi was staying in the Taiji Hall and summoned many courtiers from Zhongshu and Menxia Province to discuss the war with Beirong together.
A few days ago, the DPRK had received the news that Liu Jiping had sent back from Ganzhou, saying that under the provocation of the Beirong cavalry, the Ganzhou army had sent troops mercilessly to meet the emperor's previous will.
The 80,000 Ganzhou troops who stayed behind rushed out, and now the battle is fierce, and they can't get out at all.
As a result, the pressure on the team stationed in Gyeonggi increased sharply, and the large tracts of land in the south could not tolerate the slightest disturbance and error.
Everyone is thinking about this, secretly hoping that there will be no major incident in the court, but someone outside has rushed to report: "Your Majesty, just now, news came from outside Yong'an Gate, saying that His Royal Highness Prince Concubine is going to Taiji Hall to ask the Holy One, and to report the Prince - treason. !"
The voice fell, and there was an uproar in the hall.
This newlywed couple, who had only been married for a few days, brought the rebellion to the front of the imperial court!
Liu Kang quickly asked about the details of today's affairs, and quickly explained it in Xiao Kezhi's ear.
"Okay, since you've told me here, and all the ministers are here again, let her come in."
Xiao Kezhi put down the tea cup in his hand and commanded lightly, but he didn't seem to be surprised by this.
Outside the hall, Zhao Yu'e in the cloth skirt of Jing Chai responded, stepped into the door under the guidance of the inner servants, knelt down in front of everyone, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, Yu Niang is here today to sue the prince, the prince intends to rebel. , forcing my Zhao family to accompany him, and want to take advantage of the time when the DPRK's vigilance is relaxed, to launch an army in one fell swoop, capture Gyeonggi, and seize the throne!"
"What? Zhao Family?! Is it the Bozhou Army?"
"The crown prince wanted to marry Zhao's daughter..."
…
Several high-ranking ministers in Zhongshu Province looked embarrassed and lowered their heads in silence.
Some of them, for the sake of the identity of the prince and the deceased Chu Qianyu, stood on the side of the East Palace from the bottom of their hearts. They were suddenly stabbed today, and they didn't know what to do.
One of them took a closer look at Xiao Kezhi's face and said, "Your Majesty, this is about the Eastern Palace, do you want to invite the Prince into the palace immediately
In fact, in the Taiji Hall today, there should be a share of the prince. It's just that he took leave in advance and said that he would go to various city gates to inspect, and this was the future.
Xiao Kezhi nodded: "That's right, I should let the prince make a case for himself, lest someone say that he was wronged."
As soon as these words came out, everyone's expressions were different.
If this matter is not made clear to the public, it will inevitably be called the emperor's handwriting in the discussions of others in the future.
Jin Jiang, who was guarding the gate of the palace, responded and led someone to invite the prince, but Zhao Yu'e, who was kneeling on the ground, said loudly: "General stay! The prince is probably no longer in the city at this moment. If the general wants to look for it, please go to the south of the city. Outside Huamen, follow the Qingming Canal all the way to the south, maybe you can catch up."
"This, the Prince of the East Palace actually left the city without permission?!"
"Even the direction is clear, I'm afraid this is true!"
In the discussion, the expressions of several old officials were already difficult to see the extreme. After looking at each other, they stood up one after another: "This matter cannot be delayed, please order immediately to bring the prince back."
Xiao Kezhi rushed to Jin Jiang and said, "Divided into two teams, on the one hand, they searched in various government offices in the city, and on the other hand, they followed the words of the Crown Princess and went out of the city to search along the Qingming Canal. Once there is news, would you like to go with me?"
Everyone knows that the emperor is using them as witnesses to prove that this incident has nothing to do with him, and it is best to witness the prince's treason with his own eyes.
…
Outside Anhua Gate, Xiao Yu sat in the carriage, looking at the scorching sun overhead from time to time, feeling anxious for a while.
"It's already this time, how can there be a future?"
The meeting place he and Zhao Yu'e had decided to meet was here, but after waiting for a full two minutes, there was still no trace of the carriage on the empty road.
There was Tian Shelang, who was running from outside the city to the city wearing a hat and carrying a burden with bare feet. Seeing that although he was thin and simple in clothes, his face was fair and handsome. As he stepped down, he wiped the raindrops of sweat on his dark face, and humbly stretched out his hand, wanting to ask for saliva: "This gentleman is kind, can you give the old man half of his saliva?"
His exposed skin had been tanned by the scorching sun, and his face was covered with ravines, his eyes were cloudy, staring at Xiao Yu's water bladder hanging by the side of the car, motionless, his hoarse voice due to lack of water made his heart tremble. .
The guard who had disguised himself couldn't bear it, and wanted to give a few mouthfuls, so he couldn't help but cast his tentative eyes on Xu Rong.
Xu Rong had no time to take care of him, and was about to wave his hand as if he could not see it, but Xiao Yu frowned impatiently and shouted: "Come on! Don't hang around here!"
The guard had no choice but to withdraw the hand that was going to hand his water bladder to the old man, and motioned him to leave quickly with his eyes.
"If Your Highness is in a hurry, you might as well get in the car first, or get out of the sun." With the scorching sun on his head, Xu Rong was also sweating.
"I always feel bad in my heart... Well, since she hasn't come, she won't wait anymore." Xiao Yu seemed to have lost his patience and simply waved his hand to get into the car.
"Your Highness, is it the Crown Princess or the younger sister of General Zhao—" Xu Rong hesitated, "Don't worry, Your Highness, there have been constant reports from the northern army in the past few days, and the Ganzhou army is being pinned down. I think there should be no mistakes..."
That being said, no one can really be sure.
"Okay, I've made up my mind. Without her, the Bozhou Army can only listen to me at this juncture. No wait, let's go!"
With that said, Xiao Yu simply lowered the curtain of the car and urged him to set off.
The guards looked at each other, and after a moment of silence, they mounted their horses and galloped all the way to the south.
South of Chang'an City, Du Qu.
In the countryside, tens of thousands of horses are stationed here, but they have never built fences or erected flags. Only the sergeants' heads wrapped in coarse cloth have been wiped with yellow flower juice, which is particularly bright and dazzling under the sun.
Xiao Yu rushed all the way, and when he saw the situation in front of him, he finally breathed a sigh of relief—this was the Bozhou Army who had arrived first!
He got out of the car himself, and without waiting for the guards to go first, he went straight to the vicinity of the camp.
The lieutenants and soldiers had already discovered them, and at this time someone was welcoming them. However, the person who came over was not the one Xiao Yu had expected, the one who had previously handed over to him, but a tall and strong man with an expressionless face and a sullen face. Got people trembling behind.
"Where is General Zhao? But he hasn't arrived yet?" Xiao Yu's relaxed expression was taken away, he looked at the unfamiliar sergeant in front of him, and asked with a frown.
The man ignored him and only raised his chin: "Are you the prince?"
Xiao Yu paused for a while, stood there and said nothing, only squinting at him.
"I'll take it as you are." The man saw that he was silent, and did not ask any further questions. Instead, he suddenly turned around and shouted to everyone behind him, "Come here, grab him!"